Sometimes ownership of property and the proof associated with property ownership is inaccurate, incorrect, or incomplete. These are generally known as "title problems." Often a title error is not found until you attempt to sell your property or take out a loan against it. In other situations, the death of a person and the settling or lack of settling their estate can leave questions or "clouds" over the title to the property.

Some errors can be corrected by a technician who knows right where to look and how to fix them. Some can be handled relatively quickly and others take longer. On occasion the fix requires much more than one would imagine. For this reason, it is common for banks, lenders, and buyers to purchase title insurance when a property is acquired. This is a form of insurance designed to protect the insured against title errors. Not all title issues can be insured around, however, and they may need to be cleared or the property will be difficult to sell due to the problems associated with it.